This disclosure relates in general to weapons systems and, but not by way of limitation, to projectile aiming systems.
Sniper, law enforcement officers, hunters, and gunners are trained using live ammunition. Excluding basic marksmanship training, military and law enforcement agencies used specialized training equipment to simulate live fire during training exercises. This equipment provides training participants a means to safely simulate a live fire event during training so that hits and kills can be recorded. Some of the systems also facilitate a mutual exchange of simulated gunfire between shooter and target so that individual and collective skills can be evaluated.
The basic training systems use a laser transmitter to simulate live fire. The laser transmitter is mounted to the small arms weapon or weapon platform, and co-aligned to its sighting mechanism or fire control system. The laser transmitter sends a coded message to targets fitted with an infrared detector. If the transmitter is pointed directly at the target when the laser transmitter is triggered, then the beam of infrared light is detected by the target and registered as a kill, hit, miss, or near miss.
Although these systems work well in most training environments, they have neither technical capability nor ballistic fidelity to provide sufficient training to evaluate basic sniper and gunnery skills. Snipers and gunners are not only required to hold a steady aim while sighting their targets, they're also bound by necessity to follow advanced marksmanship techniques; estimate range, estimate atmospheric conditions, estimate target posture; calculate a firing solution; and correctly adjust sights and accurately lead moving targets.
Projectiles that travel over long distances through various atmospheric conditions ultimately drift off course from their original trajectory. The visual point of aim is, as a rule, slightly different from the actual point of impact of a projectile. A weapon sight can be properly adjusted to match the expected point of impact. If the weapon's sighting mechanism is properly adjusted, and the weapon has been properly stabilized, the projectile should impact very close to the point of aim.
Long range interdiction techniques have been well established to increase the likelihood of acquiring, engaging, and hitting distant targets. To ensue that projectiles hit their intended targets, shooters and observers make observations to gather information about their targets posture and position, and to estimate atmospheric conditions. This data is inserted into a ballistic formula to compute a firing solution. Necessary adjustments are made to the weapon sights or fire control system. The shifted point of aim is intended to pair up with the estimated point of impact. On ground weapon platforms the gunner establishes may establish a “hold” for static targets or “lead” for moving targets. These techniques permit shooters to hit their intended targets with a high degree of accuracy.
But training with live ammunition is costly, dangerous, and also limits marksmanship training to engaging inanimate targets; most targets are dynamic not static, for example, humans, vehicles, and animals.